Radical Jesus - part 3

lets continue on...

Peter lived in close association with Jesus for three years and was with Him on some of the most momentous occasions of His ministry. Many times when the other disciples were excluded, Peter was brought in to see the special work of God. When they came to the house of Jairus, whose little daughter had died, Jesus put all of the people out. Yet He took Peter and John into the room that they might be witnesses of His power to bring her back to life. When He was in the area of Caesarea Philippi, and was transfigured on the high mountain before His disciples, it was Peter, James and John who were selected by the Lord to witness the event. In his second epistle, Peter writes about this experience and describes Jesus with His raiment shining like the sun, and seeing that glory of the eternal God coming forth from Him. He said, "We were not following cunningly devised fables when we declared to you the glory of the Lord." It wasn't some cunningly devised story. He said, "We were actual eye witnesses of His glory when we heard the voice of God there on the Mount." But even as significant as this experience was, Peter pointed to "the more sure word of prophecy" as the secure foundation of our faith.

When predictions are made about the future, there is a governing principle known as the Law of Compound Probabilities. This principle states that the more conditions placed on a prediction, the greater the chance that it will not come to pass.

Let us say that Newport Beach in California is shaken by an earthquake on an average of once every two years. If I should predict that there will be an earthquake in Newport this year, my chances are 1 in 2 of being right. If I said it will happen on June 13th, then there being 365 days in a year, the chances of it happening the 13th of June would be 1 in 365. If I said it would happen this year on June 13th, the chances would be 2 X 365 or 1 in 730. If I then declared it would happen this year, on June 13, at 2:05 in the afternoon, there being 1,440 minutes in a day, the likelihood of accuracy would then be 2 X 365 X 1,440 or 1 in 1,051,200. Now if I wanted to be very daring and say that the quake would strike at 2:05 and 15 seconds, I would increase the chances tremendously, for there are 86,400 seconds in a day x 1,051,200 and thus the chances of it happening as predicted are 1 in 90,823,680,000. This is just considering 4 factors. If I added more factors to the prediction, such as magnitude, epicenter, and the money needed to repair the damage, until I had 300 conditions, can you imagine what the odds against such a prediction being fulfilled would be? If they all came to pass you would have to conclude that I was either a true prophet, or else had inside information. This is exactly the situation we face with the prophecies concerning Jesus. He fulfilled over 300 conditions prophesied of Him. No wonder Peter called it the more sure word of prophecy!

There is certainly sufficient evidence and proof that the claims of Jesus were true. If you do not believe these claims, it is not because they are unbelievable, or because they are lacking in evidence, but because you don't want to believe them. Why would a person not want to believe the glorious claims of Jesus? He is claiming that He came to save you. He is claiming that His words will bring you everlasting life. But He is also declaring that if you don't believe, one day you will stand before God in judgment. He would not judge you, but you would be judged by the words that He spoke, because you didn't believe them. He said that He came that you might have life, and that more abundantly. Why would a person not want to believe that? Jesus loves us and died to save us from the penalty of sin, which is death. He loved us and died in our place that we might have eternal life. Why would a person not want to believe that? Many times a person doesn't want to believe because faith in Christ would require that they change their lifestyle. They are living after their selfish desires and they love their way of life. The commandments that Jesus gave are not pleasant for a person who wants to live after his fleshly lust. Jesus said if you would come after Him, you should deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Him. He condemned adultery, but many desire to have affairs. He condemned stealing, but so many want to steal. He condemned immoral sexual expression, but so many desire to throw off any and all moral restraints.

This world says, "Indulge yourself!" There is so much emphasis today upon self indulgence. People don't like to hear that they have to deny what they may want at a given moment. Thus, they don't want to believe on Jesus because it would require a change of lifestyle. Jesus said that people will not come to the light because one of the characteristics of light is exposing that which is in darkness. The secret hidden things are covered by darkness. Thus He said they will not come to the light because their deeds are evil. They hate the light and don't want to be exposed by the light. Have you ever noticed how places like bars are kept purposefully dark? People there want to hide. They really don't want to be seen. They love the darkness rather the light because their deeds are evil. Jesus said that was the reason many will not believe in Him.